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The United States government has joined seven former employee whistleblowers in a health care fraud lawsuit seeking $50 million from CPS pain clinics and Tennessee Senator Steve Dickerson.
CPS Health Care Fraud Lawsuit
According to the lawsuit filed against Comprehensive Pain Specialists (CPS), the company has been committing health care fraud by submitting thousands of false claims to state and federally funded health care programs including Medicare and Medicaid.
Most of this alleged health care fraud consisted of CPS billing for unnecessary and overpriced urine drug tests. While most pain clinics that perform drug tests before prescribing patients opioids for pain management use individual drug testing, which is cheaper and faster, CPS allegedly always opted for the more expensive multi-drug tests. These tests were allegedly referred to by CPS as “liquid gold,” referring to the price tag attached to them.
According to the whistleblowers and former employees who filed the lawsuit, CPS providers performed many of these tests without medical necessity or medical documentation. Additionally, the claimants say there is evidence indicating that CPS employees received bonuses for increasing the number of urine tests performed.
One of the whistleblower plaintiffs in the suit who worked at CPS in 2014 claims that she was told to forge signatures in order to allow CPS to bill the government for radiology services performed by unlicensed individuals. Another former employee claims that CPS purposefully mislabeled medical devices that were not covered for reimbursement by government programs in order to bill them for the cost of the devices. This employee claims that when she confronted the CEO of the company, she was fired in retaliation.
According to the Department of Justice, CPS may have defrauded the government out of over $25 million due to these fraudulently submitted claims. Senator Steve Dickerson, one of the founders of CPS, was also allegedly involved in the health care scheme and may have profited approximately $6.5 million. Plaintiffs in the suit are seeking $50 million in damages.
Background on Whistleblower Lawsuits
Whistleblower lawsuits
are lawsuits filed by individuals on behalf of the federal government. Often, these lawsuits are filed by current or former employees of companies that do work for and bill the federal government. Whistleblowers with direct knowledge of fraud committed against the government may be able to file a lawsuit under the False Claims Act, and could receive between 15 and 30 percent of the money recovered by the lawsuit. However, in order to file a suit, you must have original information regarding fraud. If a lawsuit regarding the fraud has already been filed, you will not be able to file your suit unless you have unique evidence.
Employees or former employees of government contractors including clinics or hospitals that partner with Medicare or Medicaid who have witnessed fraud against the government may be eligible to hire an attorney and file a lawsuit.
In general, whistleblower and qui tam lawsuits are filed individually by each plaintiff and are not class actions. Whistleblowers can only join this investigation if they are reporting fraud against the government, meaning that the government must be the victim, and that the alleged fraud should be a substantial loss of money.
Do YOU have a legal claim? Fill out the form on this page now for a free, immediate, and confidential case evaluation. The attorneys who work with Top Class Actions will contact you if you qualify to let you know if an individual qui tam lawsuit or whistleblower class action lawsuit is best for you. Hurry — statutes of limitations may apply.
This article is not legal advice. It is presented
for informational purposes only.
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Join a Free Whistleblower, Qui Tam Lawsuit Investigation
If you believe that you have witnessed fraud committed against the government, you may have a legal claim. Whistleblowers can only join this investigation if they are reporting fraud against the government, meaning that the government must be the victim, and that the alleged fraud should be a substantial loss of money.
See if you qualify to pursue compensation and join a whistleblower lawsuit investigation by submitting your information for a free case evaluation.
An attorney will contact you if you qualify to discuss the details of your potential case.
PLEASE NOTE: If you want to participate in this investigation, it is imperative that you reply to the law firm if they call or email you. Failing to do so may result in you not getting signed up as a client or getting you dropped as a client.
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